Devil's Luck Can Only Get You So Far
by Flyingcaterpillars
Summary: Law finds an interesting person to invite upon his ship. Though she's not as... submissive as a crew member should be, in his eyes.
1. Chapter 1

_**BOOM!**_

The villagers looked up just in time to see a girl being propelled from the top of the roof of a tall building, which, by the way, was currently smoking. The girl cursed as she flew threw the air and grabbed onto an empty clothing line stretching over the main street. She grabbed hold with one hand and then swung so her other hand latched on.

"Woo!" She cried, laughing. "I guess that part wasn't supposed to go there." Her expression turned shocked as the clothing line collapsed and she landed on the one under it. This one having multiple clothes strewn across.

"Oh jeez, I suppose I'm going to have to fix that later too- shit!"

The line she was on collapsed, the clothes flying loose, and the girl fell straight through the remaining clothing line, the clothes on that one also flying whichever way. She landed with an 'oof' on the well worn dirt road, the shirts and pants and fabric coming down to rest on top of her, and ultimately burying her. Laughter could be heard from underneath the massive pile. Just then, a chubby middle aged old man could be seen running out of the building the girl had just fallen from, his sweaty face red and furious.

"What did you do to my roof! Huh? Are you going to fix that? You think you got the money for that? I just finished building this hotel a year ago and now you come and do damages? You think this island gets a lot of tourists? I'll have to take money from my profits off the bar down below! I can't believe this!"

He yelled at her as she climbed up from under the pile of clothes, laughing. She stood up, took one glance at him, and doubled over laughing again. This only caused his face to get more red as his yells increased in volume and profanity.

"Calm down old man, I'll fix it." He opened his mouth to say something and she cut him off. "Proper this time. I'll fix it proper I promise. Just an explosion nothing wrong maybe some messed up parts but your building looks pretty damn strong, it's cement anyways, so nothings wrong, I'll clean it." She looked back at the pile in the middle of the street. "And the clothes."

He huffed but walked back into the hotel. The girl looked back at the pile and picked up one of the ropes that made up the clothing line. She ran her hand along it until she came to the end, then walked over to the side of the building and put the rope in her mouth. She grabbed onto the windowsill and started climbing her way up the wall until she got to the top, where she tied one end of the rope to a metal hook that was sticking out the side of the wall. She repeated this process until all three lines were back up and then flung the clothes over them haphazardly. She climbed the building one last time to get to the roof that she had been thrown off of.

When she got to the top she was greeted with the sight of charred metal, wood, and ash and soot. Ash and soot everywhere. She pouted childishly. "Awww. Goddamnit. I wasted all that time." Everything on that roof was ruined, she reasoned. There was no point in pillaging for anything that could be used further. She kicked all the stuff into one pile, spat on it and laughed. She looked out over the roofs of the buildings that lined the main street down to the dock, and beyond that, the sea. The sky was clear and blue, not a cloud in sight. The sea was sparkling beautifully. You know, with that submarine floating on it at the dock.

Her grin widened. There were new people to meet. She jumped onto the roof of the building next to the one she was on, grinning, and broke into a run, hopping from one roof to the next easily. The street was on a hill anyways, and the dock was at the bottom of said hill. She reached the last building and skidded to a stop at the edge of the roof, dropping to her haunches and letting her hands dangle in between her legs as she watched.

She saw all the fishermen be wary of the newcomers. Probably rightfully so. From here she could see something that looked like a pirate logo painted in black against the yellow submarine. She snorted, yellow was a gaudy color to paint a submarine in a blue ocean.

She saw people in orange jumpsuits leave the submarine. Two were different. One, wasn't wearing a jumpsuit. Actually, he was wearing a furry white hat, a black and yellow hoodie with the same pirate logo on it, and some blue jeans with what looked like spots on them. They matched the spots on his hat. He was also carrying a large sword almost as tall as he was, and from what she could see his arms were tattooed.

The other person who was different wasn't even a person.

Actually, it was a bear.

And it was talking.

...

That's fuckin' cool.

The girl jumped down from the roof, the building wasn't that tall anyways, and landed on a pile of crates. She jumped off those in turn and started walking towards the pirate people with a grin on her face. She wanted to talk to the talking bear. I mean, that's neat. While she was walking there she passed a fisherman she had helped yesterday on his boat. "Hey, Sam." She grinned and waved at him as she passed. He reached out to stop her from walking in the direction of he pirates but pulled his hand back at the last minute. They had already noticed her.

The man with the fuzzy hat was eyeing her suspiciously. She assumed he was the captain, since even the bear was in an orange jumpsuit. Oh well. He was uninteresting. She walked up to the bear.

"Oi." She greeted with a laugh, "You're a bear right? But you can talk. I saw you. I think that's pretty neat." She stuck out her hand for a handshake. "My names Zeima. Yours?" The bear shifted nervously and glanced over in the direction of the captain, as if asking for approval.

The captain stared at the girl. Tall, though not as tall as himself. Somewhere between the age of 18 and 20. Long, straight, light blue hair that fell down to almost her lower back. Welding goggles made up of two circles. Made of copper. Looked well used and dirty. Bangs fell down from under the goggles into her eyes, but only slightly. White tank top. Baggy camouflage pants tucked into heavy duty black leather boots with thick soles. Two daggers in sheaths, one on either side of her hips. Long, moderately thick metal pole hung down her back. Looked like some sort of weapon. Log pose on her arm. Everything covered in soot and ash. Face, hair, clothes, hands especially. Large grin. Brought out the prominence of the soot on her face.

The captain nodded his approval to the bear and the bear bowed instead of taking the girls hand. "My name is Bepo." He said in a rather high-pitched voice. The girl automatically started laughing. "Goddamn, oh, oh, what's- 'My name is Bepo.'" She mimicked his voice, "I expected more, you know, 'My name is Bepo.'" She said in a deeper voice, while trying to speak through her laughter. The bear ducked it's head.

The girl stopped laughing though the grin never left her face. "Why didn't you shake my hand anyways?" The bear looked at her surprised, "I'm sorry! And I'm sorry for my voice, and I'm sorry for making you laugh, and I'm so-" She held up a hand to stop him. "What the hell're you apologizin' for? Jeez, here." She took his paw and put it in her hand, then shook it. "See," She said, "No biggie. I wasn't offended. Though you don't needta be so shy for hells sake nobody blames you for nothin'."

The captain cleared his throat. The girl, Zeima, turned to him. "Oi." She said with a grin and a half wave. "'Sup?" The captain walked towards her with a grin of his own. Though his was calm and calculating. And most of all, his didn't reach his eyes. It was the grin of a man who held all the cards.

"You cannot just simply walk up and approach my crew members without my consent. Miss Zeima."

The girl wrinkled her nose and laughed. "Miss? You don't haveta call me miss. Too formal for somethin' like this."

His grin tightened. "I am Trafalgar Law. A pirate. Surely you know this. And in knowing this, it is best advised if you keep out of my way. Villagers are not to mix with dangerous travelers. It is to their best interest."

The girls brow furrowed in confusion. "Villagers?" Her expression snapped to one of surprise. Her expressions were rather extreme, and they splayed across her face easily. She made absolutely no attempt to hide them. "Oh you think I live here!" She laughed, "Oh no, no mate, see I'm visiting here, same as you." She pointed to a little raft tied up next to the pier. "See? 'Tis my vessel for sailin' the seas. Got here a couple days ago. Was gonna head out soon."

Law looked over and saw the tiny raft. He felt exasperated just looking at it. This girl was obviously stupid, and how she had managed to survive on the Grand Line this long was a mystery. He looked back at her with a sigh, "All the same. It is in your best interest not to interfere with us any longer. You wouldn't want to be hurt."

"Psssssh." The girl waved her hand in dismissal, "I doubt that."

Law's eyes narrowed. "You doubt what." His tone was cold, and bordering on dangerous.

The girl looked up at him with a challenging grin and sparkling eyes. "Doubt you could hurt me."

Law's eyes flashed and he grinned back, enjoying this. He backed away from her and tucked his sword between his shoulder and his chin, then lifted up his arms, palm down with his hand almost making a dome. His crew members recognized the pose and scrambled out of range. The girl only tilted her head to the right in honest confusion, with curious eyes.

"Room." Law spoke, and an almost transparent blue dome suddenly surrounded him and this girl. Her curious eyes widened and she looked around in amazement.

"Oooh, this is so neat!" She spoke, a happy grin stretching across her face. "Now this is cool. You must be a devil fruit eater, huh? Ooo, jeez, I wonder what this power does." She turned her back towards him to look around the blue dome and Law grinned ferally at her amateur mistake. He took his sword and slashed at her from where he stood. She turned back around to face him just as he put his sword back in it's sheath. She looked so intrigued and curious. Law chuckled.

"Shambles."

He waited.

And then he waited.

His crew members waited.

Their audience of villagers waited.

The girl grinned.

Law could feel confusion and humiliation creeping up the back of his neck. What was going wrong? Why wasn't it working? Should he try again and risk humiliating himself further? He let the Room fall and the blue dome disappeared. The girl was still grinning at him.

"That looked real neat. I still wanna see what it does. Can you do it on someone else, then?"

Law was angry. He didn't show it, but he didn't like being embarrassed. Being made a fool of. He was so upset he was considering simply slashing her manually with his sword. He took a deep breath and walked up to her. His eyes were blazing. Angry. He could feel them. She backed down not one step. Her grin didn't even falter as she looked him in the eye.

As quickly as he could he drew his sword and slashed it. It should've made a large, gaping wound in her stomach. It should've. He felt a tap on his shoulder from behind him. He turned around and the girl grinned, wiggling her fingers. "Hey."

He was so angry that it almost showed on his face. The crowd was whispering, looking confused. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He re-sheathed his sword. The girl stuck her hand out for a handshake. He looked at it, then took her hand silently and shook it with force. She returned the handshake with equal strength. Her eyes closed as she grinned, "Nice to meet you, Trafalgar Law."


	2. Chapter 2

He was silent for a while. "Nice to meet you too. Miss Zeima."

She pouted. "Zeima."

"Miss Zeima."

"Zeima."

"Miss Zeima."

The girl laughed and waved her hand dismissively again. "Well fuck you too, mate."

The crew members lurched forward as if to attack her for insulting their captain. But then they remembered that even their captain couldn't touch her. They shrunk back to their safe positions.

Law still wanted to harm her intensely. She seemed unaware of this. He also wanted to know just how she avoided both of his attacks. But he didn't want to ask. He didn't want to admit he even cared about it. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on your point of view, she noticed.

"You confused? I can tell you are. That attack looked real neat I bet it would've done some serious damage. Same with the sword you tried to slice through me stomach. 'Tis a nice looking sword if that makes you feel better." She looked him in the eyes, "I'll tell you how I did it if you want."

Law made no move, and tried to make no expression as he stared back into her eyes. She must've seen something though, because she started talking again.

"Well, for the sword that was real easy you know. Ey, you know the technique that, hmm. Well, I heard other people call it Soru. You know Soru? That was for the sword dodging."

He did in fact know Soru. He knew of a few pirates who could do it. Move so quickly you can't even see the person. That would explain how she dodged his sword. Did she know the rest of the Rokushiki then? He voiced this question, "Are you able to control the other powers of Rokushiki?"

She answered with surprising bluntness, and her tone was casual. "No. Just Geppo. Geppo and Soru. But that's just 'cuz I like being near the sky." He was surprised. He had expected her to at least lie and claim she was a master of all six of the powers. That didn't explain the problem of how she avoided his Room, however. She was getting to that though.

"And for your devil fruit power. That ones not specific or anything. It's real simple too. It's just Haki. You know Haki, right?"

That was also something he knew. Barely, though. He had only heard it mentioned in passing. Something about it being peoples 'presence.' He was surprised she knew about it. And even more surprised that she could control it.

"I'm not very physically strong though." She continued, "Even with Armament Haki being used as a weapon."

He nodded, even though he really had no idea what Armament Haki was. She shrugged, and grinned up at him. "Anyways, if you ain't too keen on killin' me right now this very moment, wanna take your crew and go on up to a nice joint I know? Serves great alcohol. Actually, I probably owe the owner for today. I kinda blew something up on his roof." Law could feel his lips quirk up a _tiny _bit in amusement. "By accident of course!" She defended, "I swear 'twas an accident."

Law could see some of his men look very happy at the prospect of going to a bar right now. But he had come to this island to stock up on supplies. Not to celebrate and socialize. Besides, he felt he had nothing to celebrate now after being so humiliated by this girl.

"No thank you miss. I think we will just stock up and depart." He spoke coolly and evenly. He saw his men deflate from the corner of his vision. She shrugged. "Suit yourself." She walked back to the crates he had seen her jump down from, then climbed to the top of those and used a window to haul herself up and over onto the roof. He felt mildly amused that she could use Geppo, but preferred to climb.

He turned to his men. "Alright. Time to stock up. Go anywhere in the village and buy anything you deem necessary. Be back before sundown." The men scrambled, except for Bepo, who came over to his side. The villagers that had gathered left, either to resume work or hurry back to their shop to sell things to the pirates.

"Uh, Captain?" Bepo spoke, shy and nervous. Law raised an eyebrow. "Um, I was just wondering if you were upset that, um,-" Law cut him off with a shake of his head. The bear never did have good timing. Bepo nodded and ran off to wherever it was he wanted to go. Law had no idea where he himself wanted to go. He supposed he could go see if this island in particular had any new medical books, or herbs specific to it's agriculture.

He stopped a nervous looking fisherman and asked where the medical shop was. The fisherman blinked, "Medical shop? There is none. But there's the hospital if you want. It's not very big. You'll see it if you go up the main street. It's painted white with a red door." He nodded to the man and started his walk up the hill that made up the main street.

On the way up the street he saw many of his men. The orange jump suits made them easy to pick out. For him, and for potential enemies. He wondered for a second if that was the best idea he'd ever had. Many of his men were rushing around carrying boxes and going from store to store. He also saw what he assumed was the bar that the girl, Zeima, had been talking about. He saw his men go into there as well. He decided to let it go. As long as they all got the necessary supplies before sundown.

He walked into the hospital and there was a lady sitting at a bare wooden desk. She asked if she could help him, while looking warily at his sword.

"Yes, well, I would like to speak with a doctor. And I would also like a complete listings of the medicines used in this village." He asked, as politely as he could. Which, really, was rather intimidating. She scrambled out of the room and came back with a large book. "Doctor Sampson will be with you shortly." He raised an eyebrow. "He's the head doctor." She replied to his raised eyebrow and then left the room, and didn't return.

Eventually the doctor came in and they talked. And Law read the book. This went on for two hours and eventually he left. He found out no new information. He was disappointed, but not surprised. He eyed the bar. Maybe he could go in for a minute and have one drink. He deserved it. Nothing seemed to be working out for him today.

He approached the bar slowly and pushed open one of the saloon doors. Nobody glanced his way, they were all too enraptured with the alcohol. A happy mood filled the air as men laughed at nothing and drank everything in sight. At the bar, sitting on a stool, was the girl he had met this morning, Zeima. She was leaning with her back against the counter and her elbows resting on it beside her as well. From one of her hands dangled a bottle of clear liquid, and she was laughing loudly. Law briefly wondered if she was drunk.

He walked up to the counter, a fair distance away from where the girl sat and ordered a glass of something he pointed to on the back wall. He didn't really care. She saw him though, and hopped off her stool to make her way over to where he sat, waiting for his alcohol. The bottle was still in her hand and she took a swig.

"Oi. Fancy seeing you here I thought you didn't wanna come to the bar a couple hours ago." She gave him a grin and nudged him with her elbow. He tried shaking her off.

"Yes, well, I seem to have changed my mind, haven't I. I just came for one glass." He spoke. He wasn't as angry with her as before. Actually, he was rather intrigued with her now. He still may be irritated at her for rendering his attacks useless, but at least she did it in a way that wasn't arrogant.

She shrugged and held up her bottle to him. "You want some?" She asked in a sincere voice. He shook his head.

"No thank you. I'll wait for my own."

She roared with laughter. "You think I poisoned it or something? Oh c'mon mate I wouldn't do that. I ain't drunk either see?" She walked around in a circle with perfect steadiness and took her dagger out of the sheath on her right, flipped it in the air, caught it, and put it back in the sheath. "Try some of the drink." She held it out to him again with a grin. He shook his head again. She shrugged, "Suit yourself." She hopped up on the stool next to him and spat on the ground. The bartender set his drink in front of him. He picked it up and took a sip. Zeima watched him.

"Are you a pirate, Miss Zeima?"

"Zeima." She corrected, "How many times I gotta tell you. You think somethin' ladylike as 'miss' suits me?" She laughed, "Anyways, in regards to your question." She took a swig of clear liquid from her bottle. "I dunno."

He arched an eyebrow.

"I travel, if that pleases ya." She continued. "I use the sea for transport. Does that make me a pirate?"

"Do you have a bounty?" He asked, curious.

She shrugged again, "I dunno. Don't pay attention to that stuff."

He hmm'd in response.

"What about you, Law? How you get to be a pirate." He cringed at the familiar use of his first name. "Scratch that," She spoke again, "I don't really give a shit. Tell me something interesting you've done as a pirate."

"I'm a doctor." He said, and watched her grin again.

"A doctor huh? Well that's somethin'. Do you get many patients, Doctor, or do you only treat people on your own crew?"

"I... operate on people outside my crew."

Zeima laughed again, "Is that code for you mutilate their bodies for fun?"

He grinned, showing a sliver of white teeth.

"How did I guess." Zeima leaned forward with a grin and a teasing voice.

Law chuckled.

He supposed she was okay. Even a little bit interesting. He wondered if she was useful.

"What are your skills, Miss Zeima, besides... what you have shown already."

She leaned back and blinked. "Me?" She swirled the bottle around her fingers. "I can, fix things." She took a quick swig and set the bottle down on the counter. "Build things."

Law nodded, "Like a shipwright, yes?"

She shrugged, "Sure. Whatever floats your boat." A mischievous grin spread across her features and she laughed, slapping the counter with her palm. "Floats your boat! My god, because you asked if I was a shipwright." Her laughs died down with a sigh, "Man, I'm too funny."

Law's brow furrowed in confusion for a split second before he understood the- really bad- pun. A smile twitched at the edge of his lips.

He picked up his drink and turned away from her, taking a sip. "We could use a shipwright." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Zeima turn and face him.

"Are you inviting me to join your crew?"

He kept his eyes straight ahead. "Yes."

"Well, no thanks."

Law turned in his stool to face her and she continued,

"Real nice gesture of you, I'm sure. But I'm not joinin' anyones crew. I don't wanna be servin' under anyone. You seem like the type that likes your underlings, well, under. If ya know what I mean." She paused and grinned, "But. If ya just want me to travel with ya and _generously _preform all the ship-fixin', then you got yourself a deal." She stuck out her hand.

Law contemplated it. He did need a shipwright. He wasn't lying when he told her that. Sooner or later the sub was going to have a problem and he'd prefer it to be much later. With the sub, any minor problem was fatal. They were under tons of water at any given point after all. But to have someone who was not in his crew on his ship... it was risky. And highly debatable. But she had nothing to gain and nothing to lose by doing either, it seemed.

Law put his hand in hers and gave it a firm shake before dropping it. "Alright." He conceeded. "You have yourself a deal."

Zeima clapped her hands together and grinned, "Sweet!" She grabbed her bottle from on top of the counter and took a gulp before she faced him again.

"But I ain't wearing the suit."


	3. Chapter 3

The first thought in the rest of the crews mind was why didn't she have to wear the damn uniform?

After the time was up they all met back at the sub just to be told by their captain that a certain girl would be accompanying them on their ship. She waved and smiled like it was no big deal but the crew knew otherwise. The captain must need something from her. He didn't just invite people onto his ship and not require them to join the crew.

The girl also insisted, much to Laws annoyance, that she be allowed to bring her raft on board. And by raft, it really was a raft. It really only held her. She said she could move it around by using Geppo and pushing on the water with one foot. Law said she was being ridiculous and that she wouldn't need it, she'd be on the sub at almost all times. She shrugged and said, "Fine, that's cool, mate. But I really don't need to come on your ship."

So she got to bring the raft on.

Thank god that was really the only thing she needed to bring besides her drawstring backpack. Law waved her off and instructed Bepo to show her to the room she would be staying in. Bepo nodded, "Come on Zeima, I'll show you where you'll sleep."

"Mkay." Was all she replied as they descended the ladder into the submarine. It was a little bit cramped in there but not so much that it was too bad. Zeima figured she'd be spending most of her time on the small deck outside anyways.

They walked along and Bepo pointed out things to her. "This floor's got the kitchen, mess hall, captain's room, and some other rooms. Second floors got the rec room and the sick bay, plus more rooms. Third floor's the engine room."

"Where's the control room?" Zeima asked, moving her head around to look at the doors to the rooms. They all looked the same.

"That's in the little tower on the deck. Above the first level. Captain doesn't like people going in there except for Nicolas. He's our navigator." Bepo replied. He brought her to one of the standard heavy metal doors and pushed it open. "This is where you'll stay. You're lucky, you don't have a room mate since you're the only girl on board." The room was a really simple skeleton of a twin bed and a chest for keeping clothing. Zeima shrugged, "It's better than what I had. Guess I am lucky I don't need a roomie. Wouldn't mind one though. Company, you know?"

Bepo blinked, "But, how would you change?"

"Clothes?" Zeima asked. Bepo nodded. She laughed, "Well, I would take my shirt off and then my pants I bet and then I'd put new ones on?"

Bepo tilted his head, "But, you're a girl."

Zeima laughed again and spread her hands, "So?"

Bepo scrunched his nose in confusion but let it go. Zeima pulled the metal pole hanging down her back out of its holster and tossed it on the bed before walking out of the room.

Bepo led her down the hallway to another set of stairs. He stopped before descending. "Oh. And there are four bathrooms total. Two on the first and two on the second floor. They're community bathrooms though so everyone kind of goes at the same time. Except for captain, he has his own in his room. I'm not sure how you'll manage." Zeima shrugged. She'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

Bepo turned back around and started down the stairs and Zeima followed him. They reached the second floor and there was no hallway. It was just a large carpeted room with tables, chairs and couches. "This is the rec room." Bepo informed. He pointed to doors on the side of the room. "Those doors lead to more bedrooms for people, and," He pointed towards a large double door at the end of the room, "That leads to the sick bay. Captain _really _doesn't like people going in there."

A grin spread across Zeima's face. "Let's go take a look-see yeah?" She bolted towards the doors before Bepo could stop her.

She stopped before one of the doors and put her hand on it, pushing it open slowly. She poked her head inside. It was kind of big. A couple of cots for treating people on. Tubes, I.V.'s, a desk. Some jars with suspicious looking organs in them. Bepo fidgeted behind her and hopped from foot to foot. Zeima pulled her head out, faced Bepo and raised an eyebrow. "It's very him."

Bepo nodded nervously and pulled her away from the doors. She laughed at his nervousness.

"Let's go back up, yeah?" She suggested and started walking across the room towards the staircase. She climbed the stairs with Bepo right behind her and started down the hallway towards the exit of the sub. She passed a door and paused, then walked backwards and looked at Bepo. She jerked her thumb towards the door. "What's this one?"

Bepo looked startled and bowed, "Oh! I'm sorry, really sorry, I'm sorry." He straightened up, "That's the Captain's room."

Zeima raised her eyebrows in acknowledgment and poked the door. It felt like all the others. A mischievous smile spread across her face. "Let's go in, huh, Bepo?"

Bepo's eyes widened and he shook his head, "I wouldn't, Zeima, I really wouldn't. I've never seen anyone go into the Captains room."

Zeima put her hand on the handle, "First time for everythin', mate." She pushed down and felt the lock unlatch. She grinned and pushed the door open.

Law's room was significantly bigger. Probably 3 or 4 times the size of the room she was put in. And he had portholes in his wall. Four of them on the wall opposite the door. There was a bed jutting out from the wall on the right, easily two or more times the size of the bed in Zeima's room. Opposite the bed the whole wall was lined with bookshelves stuffed with books. There was a rug, a coffee table and a small sofa in between the bed and the shelves. She could see a door on the left wall that probably led into the bathroom.

"Well holy shit." Zeima said, raising her eyebrows again. "Someones lavish." She walked in and turned in a circle, "But. You know. It's kind of nice in a way. There's books and windows. Though the fancy shmancy bedspread and couch I could do without." She stomped her boot on the rug. "And the rug."

"Zeima please," Bepo begged from the doorway, "I don't think Captain would like it if we were in his room without permission, please, please come out."

Zeima chuckled and walked over to him, patting his shoulder as she left the room. "Alright, alright, mate. Ya look like you're about to faint. Calm down aight?"

Bepo sighed in relief and started towards the exit. He climbed out and Zeima followed him. The rest of the crew were busy loading the last supplies on board and Law stood by supervising the work. He nodded to Bepo when he saw him.

Zeima automatically walked towards the boxes, picking up a fair sized one and following the flow of the rest of the crew towards the submarines storage latch.

Law called out to her, "Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?"

She shrugged and gave him a funny look, "Loadin'... shit...?"

Law rolled his eyes, "I didn't or- ask you to." He deliberately changed his words from order to ask. He had the feeling Zeima would laugh at being ordered around and he couldn't risk losing even more face in front of his crew.

She grinned, "I wanna."

"I would prefer you not. Seeing as you're not completely part of my crew, I'm not sure I trust you to handle essential supplies."

Zeima's face shifted to neutral and she blinked before dropping the box at her feet, the wood making a loud thump. Some of the other crew members winced. They weren't sure what was inside that box but they hoped it was something that wouldn't be damaged by a fall like that.

She squinted at Law for a long time. "You are... funny." She finally said, breaking out into a smile so large her eyes had to close. She laughed and turned on her heel to climb grab onto the railing lining the sub's lower deck and hoisting herself up. She continued climbing until she reached the flat bit on top of the control center hub, where she fell heavily into a cross legged position.

She heard a shout from underneath her though, and pretty soon a head was poking out of the door leading into the control hub. Said head was looking left and right and almost pulled back inside before it decided to look upwards.

Zeima grinned and gave a half wave to the man looking up at her incredulously from below. "Sup?"

He laughed, "Sup."

Her grin widened. The man below her had hair that was probably somewhere between blonde and light brown, with more than a tint of red thrown in. It was messy, his hair, and reached down till the nape of his neck. It looked like he had just gotten out of bed, even though Zeima knew he hadn't. The hair was flinging away from his face at some points and curling in at others. And looking at her from within the hair were the biggest, widest eyes she had ever seen. And they were colored maybe the lightest shade of blue. They reminded her of ice. Despite their color, the eyes themselves sparkled with a wicked sense of humor and acceptance of other people, if that was possible. Zeima shoved herself off the flat mini roof, her boots making a loud thump on the deck as she landed next to the man.

She noticed he was wearing the suit too, but his was white.

She stuck her hand out. "Zeima. Nice ta meet'cha."

He grinned, "Nicolas." He paused, "You're the girl captain picked to travel with us." He said this not with suspicion but with genuine curiosity.

She nodded, "Yeh. The man said he needed a shipwright and I said I could fix stuff and hell, apparently that was good enough 'cuz here we are, I mean here I am gettin' a free ride on this ship." She looked at him with a grin. "Yeh."

He laughed, "I'm the navigator. I guess we'll see each other lots. I mean I'll see you if there's a problem or I guess you'll come up if I can't use something or." He paused, a sheepish smile on his face as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm trying to say we're both working on the ship. So we might see each other around."

Zeima laughed at him getting sheepish. She liked him. "Yeah." She said, "That'd be real neat. Oi, ya mind showin' me the stuff ya do in the hub?" She motioned towards the control tower. She was curious. It was a panel with button and switches and a wheel. All that stuff was in her nature.

Nicolas hesitated, scrunching his face up. He was apparently debating whether it was a good idea to let her in or not. He obviously didn't want to displease Law, although he thought this girl was someone who could be trusted. He ended up grinning mischievously, it made him look like a little kid about to steal candy out of a candy jar.

"Don't tell captain."

A wicked grin found it's way onto Zeima's face.

And that's where Law found them, forty minutes later. Seated in front of the wide and deep control board, Nicolas was pointing things out with serious enthusiasm, a bright smile, and sparkling eyes. Zeima nodded when he explained things, her eyes focused on his face and then the thing he would point to. She would lean down and stare at it from all different angles before Nicolas moved on. She cracked a joke and Nicolas blinked and then laughed loudly, throwing his head back.

Law opened the door as silently as he could and crept within three feet of their chairs.

"Would someone mind telling me what is going on?"

Nicolas jumped in his seat, rather high too, his arm shooting out for a second. Nicolas's jumping caused Zeima to jump, "Jeezus, mate!" She gave a short laugh, "What was that for?"

Nicolas was looking at Law, "The captain scared me. Didn't he surprise you?"

Zeima's mouth went up on one side as a grin, "Surprise me? Hell, I could hear him outside and hear 'im when he came in the room."

It was Law's turn to look down at her, his eyebrow raised. She could hear him? He hadn't even heard himself when he was walking. He let it go, he'd figure it out sooner or later. He turned back to Nicolas.

"I don't remember giving you permission to allow Miss Zeima in the control room."

Nicolas frowned, but quickly hid it. "I didn't see any harm in it."

Law's tone turned colder, harder, "You didn't see an issue with letting someone who is not officially part of the crew into the control room and," his gaze swept across the board, "apparently informing her on how it works."

Nicolas lowered his gaze so he wasn't looking at Law's face anymore, his hair hiding his eyes from Law. Eye's which he darted in Zeima's direction, looking at her.

She saw them, wide eyes. Good eyes. She frowned and was about to look at Law when Nicolas grinned at her. She smirked back and settled.

Law noticed the exchange. He frowned. Apparently they had gotten rather close in forty minutes. He turned to Zeima. "We're about to take off. If you would preform an inspection of the engine room to make sure everything is in working order that would be satisfactory." He turned swiftly on his heel and walked out the door.

As soon as he was out, Zeima burst into laughter. "Is he always so serious?" She asked Nicolas. He had a small smile on his face from Zeima's laughing.

"Most of the time, yes." He answered her.

Zeima stood. "Huh." Was all she said as she gave Nicolas a half wave and left the control hub.

Bepo had said the engine room was on the third floor. She opened the deck latch and climbed down onto the first floor. The men were bustling everywhere, but she noticed a pattern. They were either going towards the kitchen, or towards the set of stairs that led to the second floor. She walked to those stairs amongst the men and climbed down, noticing lot's of people had gathered in the rec room.

She saw a door that looked like it had stairs behind it and opened it. Luckily, it was the right one. The engine was off, so this floor did't feel any different from the others. It looked different though. The light's were bare and industrial, and there was no wallpaper here, only solid steel walls with large bolts. Zeima grinned. This was like it.

After the hallway finished she came to a moderately sized room with a metal desk bolted down in one corner and a variety of pipes and gauges along the wall. She blinked as she looked at it and looked around for the engine. It wasn't in this room, but she saw another solid steel door and walked towards it, pulling it open. There was no light inside, and she slapped the wall for a light switch. Or button. Turns out it was a button and once she found it she slammed a closed fist onto it, illuminating the smaller room.

Ah. There was the engine. It was almost twice her height and stretched almost the span of the small room. The whole thing was made of copper and steel. Crome plated in some parts, she could tell. Most of it was covered in soot, however. Soot and grime. Good. Shiny things were boring.

She knelt down in front of the engine and squinted at it, drawing a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and pulling one out before returning the pack to her pocket. She put the cigarette in her mouth and drew out a banged up silver lighter. She had actually made this one. On a slow day in a hotel room. She flicked the top open and held it to the end of the stick, lighting it up. She shoved the lighter back in her pocket and examined the engine again as she exhaled. She didn't even need to take the cigarette out of her mouth, she had figured out how to do that since she was always working with her hands. She needed them. They couldn't be busy. She only ever took it out to exhale when something serious was happening. Like a complication in some machinery.

She circled the engine as best she could. One side was pressed up against the wall. She blinked. Whoever had done that, man, that was a stupid idea.

She checked all the pressure gages, tugged and twisted all the bolts, and squeezed some pipes, grinning all the while. She loved machinery. And even though it wasn't on, it sent adrenaline rushing through her veins. It all looked clear. She left the room, slamming the button on the wall for the lights and closing the door behind her.

She made her way over to the wall of pipes and stood in front of it for a minute before making her way across, tapping gauges and checking their levels. Tightening handles, checking bolts, rattling pipes. It all seemed fine.

Oh, Law was coming. His footsteps were easy to identify. As was his presence.

"I didn't know you smoked."

She turned to face him with a large grin and a wave, taking the cigarette out of her mouth by pinching it between her thumb on the bottom and middle and ring finger on the top.

"I don't." She replied with a laugh as she exhaled, "Only sometimes."

"What times are those?"

"Dunno." She shrugged and looked at him, her eyes sparkling. "Whenever I feel like it. Not often. Just felt like it now. New machine and all." She paused and a tiny mischievous smile appeared on her face. "What? You gonna tell me smoking's bad for me?"

Law deadpanned. "Why would I do that?"

Zeima frowned. "Goddamnit you ruined it. You're all proud of your doctor image but it's funny because you mutilate people but it would've been funnier if you told me to stop smoking because you mutilate people but you're a doctor." She smiled at him, "Get it?"

It took Law a second, but he did in face 'get it'. "You're smoking in none of my concern. Though I would appreciate if you kept it to this room and the times when we are above surface."

"No problem, dude. Everything's in order, by the way. You can start the sub." She paused, "How do you start the sub?"

Law nodded, "Nicolas usually starts it. It's something he enjoys."

Zeima smiled and flicked the cigarette to the floor, stomping on it with her foot and grinding it into the ground.

He noticed her smile. "It seems you and Nicolas are getting along."

"Yeh." Zeima nodded. "I like him. He's nice."

Law nodded at her again, a blank expression on his face, then walked over to the wall that the metal desk backed into. He pressed a button and spoke into a wall-embedded microphone she hadn't noticed before. "All clear. Start the engine."

Zeima stood patiently, craning her neck around to look at the mechanics again.

Law started making his way towards the door but paused and waited for Zeima to follow him. She noticed.

"Nah, I'ma stay down here. You know, feel it power up." She grinned.

Law said nothing but walked back to where she was standing, and said nothing.

A few seconds later, the engine started to whine, then rumble. Zeima's smile grew more pronounced as the noise level increased, Law noticed.

Pretty soon you could feel the sub moving as the noise level grew steadily louder. Zeima let out a short laugh as her eyes widened and her grin stretched so wide Law wondered if it would break her face. The volume of the engine rose and surpassed earsplitting, but although Law frowned in annoyance from being exposed to it for so long, Zeima's expression did not change.

At this point, Zeima laughed, loudly. Law knew because he could see her although he couldn't hear her. The engine was too loud, you couldn't even think. It invaded your mind and all you could focus on was the steady pulsing. Not to mention the vibrations it caused in the floor. Law's ribs were vibrating so much it caused an ache deep in his chest and made him feel as if his stomach was traveling upward. He looked at his hand and noticed it shaking from the sheer force of the engine. His whole body was shaking.

Zeima turned to look at him and Law caught her eyes, searching her face with an amused expression. Her eyes sparkled and she laughed the happiest laugh Law had seen on someone in a long time, spreading her arms wide as she did so.

For Zeima, she hadn't been around something like this in a long time. She had forgotten how her whole body vibrated and her insides churned and hammered against each other. How it was a steady vibrating punctuated by heavy, dropping thuds like falling and hitting the ground, each one like a punch to the gut.

Yeah.

This was the fuckin' best.


End file.
